Mercury

In-active Human Rated Capsule Crew Capacity: 1 Diameter: 1.8 m Height: 3.3 m

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May 5, 1961

Human transportation to upper Earth atmosphere and low Earth orbit.

Flight Life

Between 15 minutes and 3 days.

Description

The Mercury spacecraft's principal designer was Maxime Faget, who started research for manned spaceflight during the time of the NACA. With 100 cubic feet (2.8 m3) of habitable volume, the capsule was just large enough for a single crew member. Inside were 120 controls: 55 electrical switches, 30 fuses and 35 mechanical levers. The heaviest spacecraft, Mercury-Atlas 9, weighed 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) fully loaded. Its outer skin was made of René 41, a nickel alloy able to withstand high temperatures.

History

The Mercury spacecraft was the manned capsule used for suborbital and orbital launches during the Project Mercury, the first human spaceflight program of the United States, from 1958 through 1963.



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Success
2 days, 7 hours ago
SatNet test satellites
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Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 10 hours ago
Cygnus CRS-2 NG-23 (S.S. William “Willie” C. McCool)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

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Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 15 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-10
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat
Success
5 days, 6 hours ago
Glonass-K1 No. 18 (Kosmos 2595) & Kosmos 2596
43/3 (43L) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

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Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 7 hours ago
Nusantara Lima
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

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Soyuz 2.1a
Success
6 days, 17 hours ago
Progress MS-32 (93P)
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer B
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Long March 7A
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Yaogan 45
201 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

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Smart Dragon 3
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Geely Constellation Group 05
Oriental Spaceport mobile launch ship - Sea Launch

11 LEO communications satellites for Chinese car manufacturer Geely Automotive for testing autonomous driving/inter-vehicle communication services. T…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
Starlink Group 17-9
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.